Thursday, April 25, 2019
Hod of Chesed - Counting the Omer - "Gratitude is the key..." - Rabbi Al...
Does love humble me? Do I realize that the ability to love comes from a higher place, from G*D? Knowing that love comes from G*D do I enter love with total humility, recognizing the great privilege of being able to love? Do I realize that through love I receive more than I give?~from Counting the Omer, by Rabbi Simion Jacobson.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Netzach of Chesed - Counting the Omer - "The art of Love..." - Rabbi Alo...
Is my love constant regardless of what is going on in life. Can I be counted on in good times and bad. Can it be counted on regardless of challenges and setbacks. Is my love enduring. These are the questions Rabbi Simon Jacobson asks in his book The Counting of the Omer.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Counting the Omer - Introduction to Sefirat Ha'Omer series - Rabbi Alon ...
It's been years since I have posted on this blog but I feel the need to spread
these beautiful and inspiring messages. Be blessed beloved~Elisheva
these beautiful and inspiring messages. Be blessed beloved~Elisheva
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
Going Through the Motions
This past Shabbat we celebrated Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbath. A
friend asked what that meant to me. In thought it meant all the Sabbaths
of the past year, some were most holy and uplifting, some left me
feeling that I had missed a Divine appointment and I wanted to go back
and do it better not just going through the motions but really being
present. In entering the new year we have the chance to gather all
those precious and holy moments and take them with us leaving behind the
parts that fail to elevate and uplift not only ourselves but the people
around us. After all beloved, we are in this together and owe it to
each other to make the most of our time together.
At the Passover Seder we are reminded that the exodus from Egypt was not just a one time historical event. The Hagaddah says, " In every generation one should regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt. ( Ex. 13:8) Metaphorically, we are still in Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzraim which means " narrow straits" which represents all psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical constraints. While we are in the physical world, there are varying degrees of bondage that we experience. On Passover particularly and throughout the month of Nissan, it is a propitious time to free oneself from internal and external constraints, to make a personal exodus from our personal mitzraim.
Mindy Ribner asks the question, "How do we really move forward to greater freedom in our lives? That is the question. She says, "It is not easy to change, to become unstuck, and feel free to be who we really are. To help us to spring forward in our lives, we are given the holiday of Passover in the month of Nissan with all its rituals and observances that help us break through limitations and go forward in the ways that our soul yearns to do. We can not do it alone. We need divine assistance. By forging a stronger connection with G*d through prayer, meditation, and doing acts of kindness ( mitzvot) we place ourselves in alignment with Divine blessing. We feel most alive and vibrant when we are connected to G*d. Give yourself time each day in personal prayer to stand in the question. What does G*d want of me? What does my soul need to heal, grow and shine? Talk to G*d and listen carefully to what opens within you."
Mindy also says, "In this month of Nissan, it is particularly important and helpful to watch your speech. The healing dimension for this month is speech. It is through our speech that we redeem or enslave ourselves. We create our reality through our speech. Be sure to take time each day to express your gratitude to G*d and people around you. A word, a look, a gesture of appreciation, a blessing to another person just for being in your life can be a holy passport that opens gates for greater freedom for each of us. We may never know how precious words of blessing and appreciation are to both the giver and receiver."
Let us make the most of the time we have together beloved, let's make this year be different from all other years, instead of going through the motions~May we all have an inspiring Passover~Elisheva
This song by Matthew West is my heart's cry to my Father in Heaven https://youtu.be/ZUg9qE_KjLg
The Motions
At the Passover Seder we are reminded that the exodus from Egypt was not just a one time historical event. The Hagaddah says, " In every generation one should regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt. ( Ex. 13:8) Metaphorically, we are still in Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzraim which means " narrow straits" which represents all psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical constraints. While we are in the physical world, there are varying degrees of bondage that we experience. On Passover particularly and throughout the month of Nissan, it is a propitious time to free oneself from internal and external constraints, to make a personal exodus from our personal mitzraim.
Mindy Ribner asks the question, "How do we really move forward to greater freedom in our lives? That is the question. She says, "It is not easy to change, to become unstuck, and feel free to be who we really are. To help us to spring forward in our lives, we are given the holiday of Passover in the month of Nissan with all its rituals and observances that help us break through limitations and go forward in the ways that our soul yearns to do. We can not do it alone. We need divine assistance. By forging a stronger connection with G*d through prayer, meditation, and doing acts of kindness ( mitzvot) we place ourselves in alignment with Divine blessing. We feel most alive and vibrant when we are connected to G*d. Give yourself time each day in personal prayer to stand in the question. What does G*d want of me? What does my soul need to heal, grow and shine? Talk to G*d and listen carefully to what opens within you."
Mindy also says, "In this month of Nissan, it is particularly important and helpful to watch your speech. The healing dimension for this month is speech. It is through our speech that we redeem or enslave ourselves. We create our reality through our speech. Be sure to take time each day to express your gratitude to G*d and people around you. A word, a look, a gesture of appreciation, a blessing to another person just for being in your life can be a holy passport that opens gates for greater freedom for each of us. We may never know how precious words of blessing and appreciation are to both the giver and receiver."
Let us make the most of the time we have together beloved, let's make this year be different from all other years, instead of going through the motions~May we all have an inspiring Passover~Elisheva
This song by Matthew West is my heart's cry to my Father in Heaven https://youtu.be/ZUg9qE_KjLg
The Motions
This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life
I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?
No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life
Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?
Take me all the way (take me all the way)
Take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
Take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
Take me all the way
Take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
Take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
Take me all the way
I don't wanna go through the motions
Friday, March 27, 2015
Fast Forward It's the Month of Nissan
Rabbi Shraga Simmons teaches that Rosh Chodesh Nissan -- the first
day of Nissan -- is one of the most significant days in Jewish history.
It was then, in Egypt, that G*d gave the first mitzvah to the Jewish
people -- the mitzvah of declaring the new moon and sanctifying the new
month. For 2,448 years, G*d did so Himself, but now He entrusted the
honor and responsibility to the Jewish people.
Why is this mitzvah so significant? Because it shows that we have the ability (and responsibility) to sanctify our lives and the passage of time. With this power to change and determine physical reality, we thereby become partners in the ongoing process of creation.
In Rabbi Abraham Twerski's Growing Each Day series he says of the 1st of Nissan,
This month shall be unto you the first of the months (Exodus 12:2).
The Jewish calendar has two New Years. Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Tishrei, which marks the beginning of the calendar year, is a day of judgment, signifying that we are held accountable for our behavior. The first day of Nissan marks the beginning of the month of our liberation from Egypt, an event which teaches us that G*d watches over us, that He cares about us, and that even distressful experiences, such as the bitter enslavement in Egypt, are part of a Divine master plan.
Six months separate the two New Years. The personal inventory and the analysis of our mistakes and character defects which we do during the solemn days of Tishrei are very sobering tasks. On the other hand, realizing that we hold a lofty status as children of G*d and that we are constantly under His vigilance, which is emphasized in Nissan, is exhilarating and elating. Both attitudes are indeed essential, but if one tries to achieve them simultaneously, one may end up in a state of confusion.
In the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon points out that we should dedicate appropriate times in life for conflicting acts and attitudes. He says, "There's a time to plant and a time to uproot" (3:2), and "There is a time to cry and a time to laugh" (3:4), etc. A healthy adjustment to life is a delicate balancing act. With proper learning and guidance, we can learn to determine appropriate times for what we are supposed to do.
Today I shall ...
... give thought to scheduling my hours and days, so that I can achieve a healthy balance of diverse attitudes.
Below is a teaching from Melinda Ribbner's Kabblah of the Heart site, remember beloved that the joy is in the journey. We are embarking on a whole new mindset, leaving behind our old ways of thinking and relating. We all want to make changes in our life, as the old Hebrew expression goes, "Even the journey of one thousand kilometers begins with a first step." Next year in Jerusalem!!! Elisheva
The Torah says this about Nissan, " This month shall be for you the head of the months, it is the first for you of the months of the year." ( Exodus 12:2) Whatever is the first is the most beloved, the most precious, with the greatest benefit and impact. In the month of Nissan, we should also learn to trust our first impressions and to not second guess ourselves and others.
This month of Nissan is called the headquarters for newness. A sign that we are close to God is that everything feels new, full of wonder and possibilities. These are the precious moments in life when we may be doing what we always do, and suddenly our consciousness is lifted upwards, our hearts open and we are filled with the awareness of the sanctity of life itself. We are so happy to simply be alive. This is a taste of the joy of Nissan. This is the month to leave our personal restrictions and move to greater freedom. There are significant life changes possible in Nissan. If you feel stuck in a life routine that is limiting, take heart, Passover is coming, Nissan is here. Nissan was the month when the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt, it will be the month in the future when the final redemption will take place, and in every Nissan there is the hope and expectation that something new and wonderful will happen. In this month we celebrate the holiday of Passover. Many of us are already planning for where we will be for the Passover Seder. The scent of Spring in the air makes us aware of the new life emerging in nature and that reminds us to pay attention to the new energies stirring within each of us as well.
At the Passover Seder we are reminded that the exodus from Egypt was not just a one time historical event. The Hagaddah says, " In every generation one should regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt. ( Ex. 13:8) Metaphorically, we are still in Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzraim which means " narrow straits" which represents all psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical constraints. While we are in the physical world, there are varying degrees of bondage that we experience. On Passover particularly and throughout the month of Nissan, it is a propitious time to free oneself from internal and external constraints, to make a personal exodus from our personal mitzraim.
How do we really move forward to greater freedom in our lives? That is the question. It is not easy to change, to become unstuck, and feel free to be who we really are. To help us to spring forward in our lives, we are given the holiday of Passover in the month of Nissan with all its rituals and observances that help us break through limitations and go forward in the ways that our soul yearns to do. We can not do it alone. We need divine assistance. By forging a stronger connection with God through prayer, meditation, and doing acts ( mitzvot) we place ourselves in alignment with Divine blessing. We feel most alive and vibrant when we are connected to G*d. Give yourself time each day in personal prayer to stand in the question. What does G*d want of me? What does my soul need to heal, grow and shine? Talk to God and listen carefully to what opens within you.
In this month of Nissan, it is particularly important and helpful to watch your speech. The healing dimension for this month is speech. It is through our speech that we redeem or enslave ourselves. We create our reality through our speech. Be sure to take time each day to express your gratitude to G*d and people around you. A word, a look, a gesture of appreciation, a blessing to another person just for being in your life can be a holy passport that opens gates for greater freedom for each of you. We may never know how precious words of blessing and appreciation are to both the giver and receiver."
Why is this mitzvah so significant? Because it shows that we have the ability (and responsibility) to sanctify our lives and the passage of time. With this power to change and determine physical reality, we thereby become partners in the ongoing process of creation.
In Rabbi Abraham Twerski's Growing Each Day series he says of the 1st of Nissan,
This month shall be unto you the first of the months (Exodus 12:2).
The Jewish calendar has two New Years. Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Tishrei, which marks the beginning of the calendar year, is a day of judgment, signifying that we are held accountable for our behavior. The first day of Nissan marks the beginning of the month of our liberation from Egypt, an event which teaches us that G*d watches over us, that He cares about us, and that even distressful experiences, such as the bitter enslavement in Egypt, are part of a Divine master plan.
Six months separate the two New Years. The personal inventory and the analysis of our mistakes and character defects which we do during the solemn days of Tishrei are very sobering tasks. On the other hand, realizing that we hold a lofty status as children of G*d and that we are constantly under His vigilance, which is emphasized in Nissan, is exhilarating and elating. Both attitudes are indeed essential, but if one tries to achieve them simultaneously, one may end up in a state of confusion.
In the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon points out that we should dedicate appropriate times in life for conflicting acts and attitudes. He says, "There's a time to plant and a time to uproot" (3:2), and "There is a time to cry and a time to laugh" (3:4), etc. A healthy adjustment to life is a delicate balancing act. With proper learning and guidance, we can learn to determine appropriate times for what we are supposed to do.
Today I shall ...
... give thought to scheduling my hours and days, so that I can achieve a healthy balance of diverse attitudes.
Below is a teaching from Melinda Ribbner's Kabblah of the Heart site, remember beloved that the joy is in the journey. We are embarking on a whole new mindset, leaving behind our old ways of thinking and relating. We all want to make changes in our life, as the old Hebrew expression goes, "Even the journey of one thousand kilometers begins with a first step." Next year in Jerusalem!!! Elisheva
The Torah says this about Nissan, " This month shall be for you the head of the months, it is the first for you of the months of the year." ( Exodus 12:2) Whatever is the first is the most beloved, the most precious, with the greatest benefit and impact. In the month of Nissan, we should also learn to trust our first impressions and to not second guess ourselves and others.
This month of Nissan is called the headquarters for newness. A sign that we are close to God is that everything feels new, full of wonder and possibilities. These are the precious moments in life when we may be doing what we always do, and suddenly our consciousness is lifted upwards, our hearts open and we are filled with the awareness of the sanctity of life itself. We are so happy to simply be alive. This is a taste of the joy of Nissan. This is the month to leave our personal restrictions and move to greater freedom. There are significant life changes possible in Nissan. If you feel stuck in a life routine that is limiting, take heart, Passover is coming, Nissan is here. Nissan was the month when the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt, it will be the month in the future when the final redemption will take place, and in every Nissan there is the hope and expectation that something new and wonderful will happen. In this month we celebrate the holiday of Passover. Many of us are already planning for where we will be for the Passover Seder. The scent of Spring in the air makes us aware of the new life emerging in nature and that reminds us to pay attention to the new energies stirring within each of us as well.
At the Passover Seder we are reminded that the exodus from Egypt was not just a one time historical event. The Hagaddah says, " In every generation one should regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt. ( Ex. 13:8) Metaphorically, we are still in Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzraim which means " narrow straits" which represents all psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical constraints. While we are in the physical world, there are varying degrees of bondage that we experience. On Passover particularly and throughout the month of Nissan, it is a propitious time to free oneself from internal and external constraints, to make a personal exodus from our personal mitzraim.
How do we really move forward to greater freedom in our lives? That is the question. It is not easy to change, to become unstuck, and feel free to be who we really are. To help us to spring forward in our lives, we are given the holiday of Passover in the month of Nissan with all its rituals and observances that help us break through limitations and go forward in the ways that our soul yearns to do. We can not do it alone. We need divine assistance. By forging a stronger connection with God through prayer, meditation, and doing acts ( mitzvot) we place ourselves in alignment with Divine blessing. We feel most alive and vibrant when we are connected to G*d. Give yourself time each day in personal prayer to stand in the question. What does G*d want of me? What does my soul need to heal, grow and shine? Talk to God and listen carefully to what opens within you.
In this month of Nissan, it is particularly important and helpful to watch your speech. The healing dimension for this month is speech. It is through our speech that we redeem or enslave ourselves. We create our reality through our speech. Be sure to take time each day to express your gratitude to G*d and people around you. A word, a look, a gesture of appreciation, a blessing to another person just for being in your life can be a holy passport that opens gates for greater freedom for each of you. We may never know how precious words of blessing and appreciation are to both the giver and receiver."
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Chai Sarah
Our sages say,"Abraham and Sarah showed us how to live a life of faith, and the life of
faith is a life of testing". At every juncture we are tested. Passing
each test requires stubborn optimism, resolute confidence in G*d and
steadfast obedience. Life's problems are opportunities to prove our
faith and to improve our faithfulness. We fail life's tests when we give
in to despair, lose confidence in G*d or turn away from obedience.
Every difficulty and trial is a test of faith. Will we assess the
problem through the eyes of faith or not? Will we respond in faith or
faithlessness?"
Many sages have asked the obvious question of why this portion is called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah when it speaks of her death. It is because she left us with a spiritual legacy death can not destroy. She seized every moment and infused it with her love of HaShem. It is her ongoing influence that still teaches us today. In a teaching by Eli Touger on this portion he says that the good deeds a person does in life precipitate others, that the goodness that one infuses into ones environment creates an ongoing dynamic toward good. And this dynamic continues to bear fruit even after ones passing, helping to increase the good in the world bringing us closer to the Era of Redemption. May we all aspire to inspire beloved and may our lives reflect our love of G*d as we seek to inspire our sphere of influence.
In a teaching given over in Rebbe Nachman's Torah, Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion it says of the verse One hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of Sarah's life, that the word shanah (year) appears four times. There are four levels of humility, to be more humble than those greater than you, to be more humble than your equals, to be more humble than those lesser than you, and if you are the most humble person to become even more humble. The essence of life, especially in the World to Come is one's humility. The life of Sarah reflects the fourth level of humility, Whether she was one hundred, twenty or seven she kept humbling herself more and more. And "all her day's were good" for in this way, she attained true humility, which is the essence of life.
Time in this life is not only granted to us to achieve a certain amount of good deeds, time itself is sanctified by our actions. It is said that a perfect life does not end in death, that it sanctifies all that comes after it. The end of our parsha finds Isaac praying in the field towards evening. He lifted his eyes and saw-behold-camels were coming. Rebbe Nachman said it is propitious to pray in fields surrounded by nature. Then all of the grasses and other forces of nature, which continuously sing G*d's praises lend their strength to one's prayers. Beloved it is with a grateful heart that I have the chance to reflect on the life of Sarah and let her radiance inspire me.
Enjoy the poem and song below
Shabbat Shalom~ Elisheva Amaris Chana Bat Sarah
The Song of Weeds & Grasses
Behold thee
That every shepherd
Brings out to life
his own special tune.
Behold thee
That every grass and weed
Has a special singing
of its own
And from the singing of the weeds
A tune of a shepherd
is being made.
How beautiful
Beauty and pleasance
while we’re paying attention
to their sound
How good it is
To pray among them
and with joy
to worship the Name
and from the the singing of the weeds
the heart fulfills and belongs.
And as the heart
from the singing is longing
and is yearning to the land of biggest joy
Great light
continues, growing
with radiance of the country for Him
and from the singing of the weeds
A song of the heart is being made~Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GDw_2sHhxXQ
Many sages have asked the obvious question of why this portion is called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah when it speaks of her death. It is because she left us with a spiritual legacy death can not destroy. She seized every moment and infused it with her love of HaShem. It is her ongoing influence that still teaches us today. In a teaching by Eli Touger on this portion he says that the good deeds a person does in life precipitate others, that the goodness that one infuses into ones environment creates an ongoing dynamic toward good. And this dynamic continues to bear fruit even after ones passing, helping to increase the good in the world bringing us closer to the Era of Redemption. May we all aspire to inspire beloved and may our lives reflect our love of G*d as we seek to inspire our sphere of influence.
In a teaching given over in Rebbe Nachman's Torah, Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion it says of the verse One hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of Sarah's life, that the word shanah (year) appears four times. There are four levels of humility, to be more humble than those greater than you, to be more humble than your equals, to be more humble than those lesser than you, and if you are the most humble person to become even more humble. The essence of life, especially in the World to Come is one's humility. The life of Sarah reflects the fourth level of humility, Whether she was one hundred, twenty or seven she kept humbling herself more and more. And "all her day's were good" for in this way, she attained true humility, which is the essence of life.
Time in this life is not only granted to us to achieve a certain amount of good deeds, time itself is sanctified by our actions. It is said that a perfect life does not end in death, that it sanctifies all that comes after it. The end of our parsha finds Isaac praying in the field towards evening. He lifted his eyes and saw-behold-camels were coming. Rebbe Nachman said it is propitious to pray in fields surrounded by nature. Then all of the grasses and other forces of nature, which continuously sing G*d's praises lend their strength to one's prayers. Beloved it is with a grateful heart that I have the chance to reflect on the life of Sarah and let her radiance inspire me.
Enjoy the poem and song below
Shabbat Shalom~ Elisheva Amaris Chana Bat Sarah
The Song of Weeds & Grasses
Behold thee
That every shepherd
Brings out to life
his own special tune.
Behold thee
That every grass and weed
Has a special singing
of its own
And from the singing of the weeds
A tune of a shepherd
is being made.
How beautiful
Beauty and pleasance
while we’re paying attention
to their sound
How good it is
To pray among them
and with joy
to worship the Name
and from the the singing of the weeds
the heart fulfills and belongs.
And as the heart
from the singing is longing
and is yearning to the land of biggest joy
Great light
continues, growing
with radiance of the country for Him
and from the singing of the weeds
A song of the heart is being made~Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GDw_2sHhxXQ
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Balak A Blessing In Disguise
Where do I start. These past few weeks have challenged us all, young and old. With signs of "Bring Back Our Boys" always on our minds. I read through a story on Aish that I truly can't do justice to so I am going to add it, but I can't help but see how it relates to this weeks parsha.
Balam wanted to curse Israel but it was in the end for the good. The lives of our three Israeli boys served as a Kiddish Ha Shem. There is so much doubt and negativity in this world but these boys showed that it is all good.Can we choose to see that. I know that it is hard. Ask the parents of these boys, if it is hard to see the good. If they can so can we. That is what this parsha is all about, seeing the good, even if it seems like a curse. Shabbat Shalom Elisheva
My eyes filled with tears. I put my head down on the table. My phone
started to ring. Text messages began beeping. I sent a message to my
husband: What will we tell the kids? Then my daughter called. I could tell by her voice that she didn’t know. “Ima, what’s wrong? You sound funny.”
I cleared my throat. I caught my breath. “It’s a bad signal here. I’ll talk to you when I get home.”
What will we tell them? That all this time that we have been praying, you have been gone? That when extra Shabbos candles were lit, you were already in a different world? They will ask why. They will ask how this can happen. They will want to know how people can be so cruel. How God can allow such suffering to go on. They will ask, and I won’t know what to say. What should I tell them?
All the way home in the car, I cry. I cry for your parents, for your families, for your friends. I cry for the tremendous loss for our nation. For your lives were just beginning, and you had so much to give, to learn, to grow. We lost not only you, but your future children and your children’s children. Whole chains of generations cut brutally short without warning. I cry. I pull up to our house, and I wipe my face. Just my older daughters are home, and they are packing for camp. If I don’t tell them, they will find out anyway. But what will I say? They are looking for pillows for camp when I walk upstairs. They know immediately when they look at my face that something is terribly wrong. “Ima, what happened?”
I shake my head. I search for words. “The boys were found.” I can’t go on.
“Alive?” they ask with trembling lips.
I shake my head again. And then I start to cry. I think about your mothers. I think about your fathers. I think about our nation’s heart breaking into pieces, and the world’s silence. Why, oh why, does the world stand by in silence?
“Ima, all this time, we were crying for the boys, and really they were crying for us,” one of my daughters says.
Her words hit me like a heart rending cry that bridges this distance between you and all of us. Between Heaven and Earth. You have been crying for us. Watching us as we gathered to pray. Looking at us as we brought in Shabbos early. Watching as some of us lit Shabbos candles for the first time ever. As we put aside our differences and came together as one people. As our children prayed and made signs for you. You have been watching us all this time. Can you believe how much strength and love you brought to the Jewish people? Can you believe how much you changed us and inspired us and made us whole?
We are lost in our grief and anger now. How could they? How can this be? So I beg you boys. Cry for us again. We need you now more than ever. Plead on our behalf. We are reeling from your loss. We want to stay together. Don’t let us give up on the prayers that we have uttered and the Shabbos candles that we have lit. Don’t let us give up on each other. All this time we thought we were crying for you, you were the ones crying for us. We don’t know what to say. We don’t know what to do. Please don’t leave us yet. Watch over us. Cry for us as we cry for you. And may our cries meet and rise up together. Like the pieces of shattered prayers, from above and below, finding each other and becoming whole again.
Balam wanted to curse Israel but it was in the end for the good. The lives of our three Israeli boys served as a Kiddish Ha Shem. There is so much doubt and negativity in this world but these boys showed that it is all good.Can we choose to see that. I know that it is hard. Ask the parents of these boys, if it is hard to see the good. If they can so can we. That is what this parsha is all about, seeing the good, even if it seems like a curse. Shabbat Shalom Elisheva
An open letter to the three boys
By Sara Gutfreund~ When I heard the horrific news, I was in a coffee shop and the sentence flashed across my screen with a tiny sound. The words tore at my heart: Bodies of Three Kidnapped Yeshiva Boys Found. No! I wanted to scream. I wanted to erase the words. Make them go away. But I couldn’t scream. Couldn’t breathe for a moment.I cleared my throat. I caught my breath. “It’s a bad signal here. I’ll talk to you when I get home.”
What will we tell them? That all this time that we have been praying, you have been gone? That when extra Shabbos candles were lit, you were already in a different world? They will ask why. They will ask how this can happen. They will want to know how people can be so cruel. How God can allow such suffering to go on. They will ask, and I won’t know what to say. What should I tell them?
All the way home in the car, I cry. I cry for your parents, for your families, for your friends. I cry for the tremendous loss for our nation. For your lives were just beginning, and you had so much to give, to learn, to grow. We lost not only you, but your future children and your children’s children. Whole chains of generations cut brutally short without warning. I cry. I pull up to our house, and I wipe my face. Just my older daughters are home, and they are packing for camp. If I don’t tell them, they will find out anyway. But what will I say? They are looking for pillows for camp when I walk upstairs. They know immediately when they look at my face that something is terribly wrong. “Ima, what happened?”
I shake my head. I search for words. “The boys were found.” I can’t go on.
“Alive?” they ask with trembling lips.
I shake my head again. And then I start to cry. I think about your mothers. I think about your fathers. I think about our nation’s heart breaking into pieces, and the world’s silence. Why, oh why, does the world stand by in silence?
“Ima, all this time, we were crying for the boys, and really they were crying for us,” one of my daughters says.
Her words hit me like a heart rending cry that bridges this distance between you and all of us. Between Heaven and Earth. You have been crying for us. Watching us as we gathered to pray. Looking at us as we brought in Shabbos early. Watching as some of us lit Shabbos candles for the first time ever. As we put aside our differences and came together as one people. As our children prayed and made signs for you. You have been watching us all this time. Can you believe how much strength and love you brought to the Jewish people? Can you believe how much you changed us and inspired us and made us whole?
We are lost in our grief and anger now. How could they? How can this be? So I beg you boys. Cry for us again. We need you now more than ever. Plead on our behalf. We are reeling from your loss. We want to stay together. Don’t let us give up on the prayers that we have uttered and the Shabbos candles that we have lit. Don’t let us give up on each other. All this time we thought we were crying for you, you were the ones crying for us. We don’t know what to say. We don’t know what to do. Please don’t leave us yet. Watch over us. Cry for us as we cry for you. And may our cries meet and rise up together. Like the pieces of shattered prayers, from above and below, finding each other and becoming whole again.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Chukat A Paradox and an Antidote
Below you will find a life lesson that we all can relate to. Some of
us more than others. Adapted from a teaching by Adam Lieberman who
weaves the antidote of this week's parsha into our lives. May we all be
blessed with an extra dose of spiritual eyesight this Shabbat so that
our true pure soul that HaShem endowed us with can shine through.
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve your world"
Anne Frank
Shabbat Shalom Beloved
Elisheva Amaris
The law of the red heifer is considered to be a paradox. G*d said that anyone who's involved in the preparation of producing the ashes from the red cow - whether he is the one who slaughters it, burns it, or collects its ashes - becomes spiritually contaminated. However, the ashes themselves can then be used to purify someone. The very same ashes that made a Jew impure are the exact same ashes that are used to make someone pure. While on the surface this seems highly illogical, there is a powerful life-changing message for us to appreciate in this day and age.
We all engage in some sort of behavior that we want to change. Whether it's our unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, unproductive thoughts, destructive actions, or poor character traits - there are things we all do that we truly wish we didn't.
And we've all reached the point at some moment in our lives when one of these things gets out of hand. We just get fed up with what we're doing, a mental line gets crossed, and we know a serious change must take place. A newfound desire to take action occurs because we see clearly that this behavior is preventing us from living a happy life. Before the change, we first hit rock bottom in this specific area, and experienced a sense of "impurity".
But here's the thing. It was this impure behavior that got to a point where a change had to take place. Therefore, it's actually the negative behavior itself that causes you to change. Sometimes it's the negative association and impact of your poor behavior that serves as the catalyst for this change to take place.
So the very act that was so impure is now the very same act that allows you make a real change.
The ashes of the red cow are impure - just like our poor choices are. But when the discontent or outright disgust of our past behavior becomes the strong impetus to finally take serious action, this negative behavior now becomes the pathway for a purification of your soul.
G*d doesn't want us to live a life of regret or to beat ourselves up for making the same poor choices over and over again. But G*d does want us to grow and change, and He's giving us an amazing insight on how to do it in the most healthy way. And that's when you think about your negative behavior and you truly get fed up about it, instead of getting upset for your inability to change, use your frustration, pain, and discontent as the very reason to change.
By doing this, you will have elevated your past impure actions into one of purity. Always remember, G*d demands that we become great. And He's giving us an amazing vehicle to get there~His Word.
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve your world"
Anne Frank
Shabbat Shalom Beloved
Elisheva Amaris
The law of the red heifer is considered to be a paradox. G*d said that anyone who's involved in the preparation of producing the ashes from the red cow - whether he is the one who slaughters it, burns it, or collects its ashes - becomes spiritually contaminated. However, the ashes themselves can then be used to purify someone. The very same ashes that made a Jew impure are the exact same ashes that are used to make someone pure. While on the surface this seems highly illogical, there is a powerful life-changing message for us to appreciate in this day and age.
We all engage in some sort of behavior that we want to change. Whether it's our unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, unproductive thoughts, destructive actions, or poor character traits - there are things we all do that we truly wish we didn't.
And we've all reached the point at some moment in our lives when one of these things gets out of hand. We just get fed up with what we're doing, a mental line gets crossed, and we know a serious change must take place. A newfound desire to take action occurs because we see clearly that this behavior is preventing us from living a happy life. Before the change, we first hit rock bottom in this specific area, and experienced a sense of "impurity".
But here's the thing. It was this impure behavior that got to a point where a change had to take place. Therefore, it's actually the negative behavior itself that causes you to change. Sometimes it's the negative association and impact of your poor behavior that serves as the catalyst for this change to take place.
So the very act that was so impure is now the very same act that allows you make a real change.
The ashes of the red cow are impure - just like our poor choices are. But when the discontent or outright disgust of our past behavior becomes the strong impetus to finally take serious action, this negative behavior now becomes the pathway for a purification of your soul.
G*d doesn't want us to live a life of regret or to beat ourselves up for making the same poor choices over and over again. But G*d does want us to grow and change, and He's giving us an amazing insight on how to do it in the most healthy way. And that's when you think about your negative behavior and you truly get fed up about it, instead of getting upset for your inability to change, use your frustration, pain, and discontent as the very reason to change.
By doing this, you will have elevated your past impure actions into one of purity. Always remember, G*d demands that we become great. And He's giving us an amazing vehicle to get there~His Word.
"Wisdom lives in the future, and from there it speaks to us. There is no such
thing as wisdom of the past.
Wisdom preceded the world and wisdom is its destiny. With each passing moment, wisdom becomes younger, as we come closer to the time when it is born and breathes the air of day.
Our ancient mothers and fathers, the sages, all those from whom we learn wisdom—they are not guardians of the past. They are messengers of the future.
The truth can never be old-fashioned. It was never in fashion to begin with." Adapted from the Chabad Rebbi
Wisdom preceded the world and wisdom is its destiny. With each passing moment, wisdom becomes younger, as we come closer to the time when it is born and breathes the air of day.
Our ancient mothers and fathers, the sages, all those from whom we learn wisdom—they are not guardians of the past. They are messengers of the future.
The truth can never be old-fashioned. It was never in fashion to begin with." Adapted from the Chabad Rebbi
| Breaking News: Red Heifer Born |
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Korach A Lesson To Learn
This week our parsha is Korach, Numbers 16:1-18-32, which bears the
name of the man who sought to replace Aharon as leader. Before we point
any fingers let us look at ourselves. How many times have we looked with
disdain at the role HaShem has put us in, in favor of the role of
someone else. Do we look at our spiritual leaders and think we can do the job better. Do we murmur and criticize, do we try to get people to
see our side and what is best for us instead of what is best for the
entire community? The question we need to be asking ourselves is this,
is a "leadership" role more important than our "relationship" with
HaShem? Is HaShem asking us to lead, or is He asking each of us to do
our part to further His Kingdom? We must search our hearts beloved,
because in the end we will see that Korach, Datan, and Aviram were not
only rejecting the leadership, they were rejecting the spiritual quest
for holiness, in doing so they were rejecting a relationship with
HaShem. May it not be with us.
You may wonder how 250 tribal leaders could get caught up in such an uprising? But we see this happening in our midst today. It only takes a few words of frustration or accusation presented in the form of "concern" to get the ball rolling. We all have to choose whose side we are on. Unfortunately when the dust settles we see some have chosen poorly. Korach, Datan, and Aviram had no interest in the issues of the soul, of purity, of holiness, or the ways of HaShem, so we see that their punishment took them back to the dust from which they were created. The 250 tribal leaders whose motives were pure died a death of holy fire consumed before HaShem. Before it is all over another 14,700 will die because of their murmurings. Korach sought to replace Aharon, but in the end all he brought was death. It was Aharon, acting out of love for the people that stood between the dead and the living to stop the plague,in doing so he prevented more death.
HaShem places before us leaders in the form of Rabbis. The Talmud says that it is a mitzvah to attach ones self to a Torah scholar. Our connection to a Rabbi helps us learn the ways of HaShem and in doing so, it brings us to a closer connection with G*D. Korach's motive can be seen as a way of keeping the people from not only following their appointed "Rabbi", but from following HaShem.
Out of all this death and devastation HaShem gives us a sign of hope in the form of the almond tree.The almond tree is the first to blossom in the spring. The Hebrew word for almond is "shaqed", it is derived from a Hebrew verb root that means to be watchful, to be on alert, to never slumber or sleep. HaShem says in Jeremiah 1:11-12, "And the word of HaShem came to me saying,"What do you see Jeremiah?" And I said,"I see a branch of an almond tree." And HaShem said to me,"You have seen well, for I am watching over My Word to do it." So beloved the next time we feel spiritually dead, that our life is not producing any fruit, turn to HaShem, for it is He that empowers us and remember Aharon's rod, and the covenant promises. Remember that HaShem is watching over us, that He never slumbers or sleeps, He is watching to see if our lives reflect His Word, His Torah. May it be so.
May we all be blessed to find and follow a Rabbi whose love for HaShem is a light in the darkness. May our relationship with HaShem blossom as Aharon's rod, ever fresh, ever fragrant.
Shabbat Shalom
Elisheva Amaris Channa Bat Sarah
You may wonder how 250 tribal leaders could get caught up in such an uprising? But we see this happening in our midst today. It only takes a few words of frustration or accusation presented in the form of "concern" to get the ball rolling. We all have to choose whose side we are on. Unfortunately when the dust settles we see some have chosen poorly. Korach, Datan, and Aviram had no interest in the issues of the soul, of purity, of holiness, or the ways of HaShem, so we see that their punishment took them back to the dust from which they were created. The 250 tribal leaders whose motives were pure died a death of holy fire consumed before HaShem. Before it is all over another 14,700 will die because of their murmurings. Korach sought to replace Aharon, but in the end all he brought was death. It was Aharon, acting out of love for the people that stood between the dead and the living to stop the plague,in doing so he prevented more death.
HaShem places before us leaders in the form of Rabbis. The Talmud says that it is a mitzvah to attach ones self to a Torah scholar. Our connection to a Rabbi helps us learn the ways of HaShem and in doing so, it brings us to a closer connection with G*D. Korach's motive can be seen as a way of keeping the people from not only following their appointed "Rabbi", but from following HaShem.
Out of all this death and devastation HaShem gives us a sign of hope in the form of the almond tree.The almond tree is the first to blossom in the spring. The Hebrew word for almond is "shaqed", it is derived from a Hebrew verb root that means to be watchful, to be on alert, to never slumber or sleep. HaShem says in Jeremiah 1:11-12, "And the word of HaShem came to me saying,"What do you see Jeremiah?" And I said,"I see a branch of an almond tree." And HaShem said to me,"You have seen well, for I am watching over My Word to do it." So beloved the next time we feel spiritually dead, that our life is not producing any fruit, turn to HaShem, for it is He that empowers us and remember Aharon's rod, and the covenant promises. Remember that HaShem is watching over us, that He never slumbers or sleeps, He is watching to see if our lives reflect His Word, His Torah. May it be so.
May we all be blessed to find and follow a Rabbi whose love for HaShem is a light in the darkness. May our relationship with HaShem blossom as Aharon's rod, ever fresh, ever fragrant.
Shabbat Shalom
Elisheva Amaris Channa Bat Sarah
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Beshalach An Emunah Point of View
This weeks parsha Beshalach is so rich beloved. With a strong hand HaShem has removed the Children of Israel from Egypt, His presence felt constantly as He leads them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Their faith or lack there of is quickly brought to the forefront as Pharaoh himself and his entire army is in pursuit, they are trapped with the sea in front of them and no where to turn. Even after everything they have experienced so far they still have doubts and cry out to HaShem asking Moshe would it not have been better to serve in Egypt then to die in the Wilderness. Why is the word Wilderness used when it was Pharoah and his army that posed the danger? According to Rambam they were referring to an earlier fear about dying in the desert from hunger and thirst. This is a people who had just lived through amazing miracles, how could they have so little faith. Lest we be quick to judge, would we have had the faith to pick up and go, taking our children and what we could carry and flee into the desert. Exhausted this is almost to much to bear.
We all know what happens next, and the song the people sing together. But I ask you to see things from a different perpective, from Miriam's point of view.
http://www.aish.com/tp/i/10minuteparsha/What-Does-It-Mean-To-Have-Faith.html
Good Shabbos~Elisheva Amaris
We all know what happens next, and the song the people sing together. But I ask you to see things from a different perpective, from Miriam's point of view.
http://www.aish.com/tp/i/10minuteparsha/What-Does-It-Mean-To-Have-Faith.html
Good Shabbos~Elisheva Amaris
Monday, December 16, 2013
Tikkun Haklali
Tikkun Haklali from Rebbe Nacḥman of Breslov
The Psalms or Tehillim in Hebrew, are the core of Jewish liturgy; its poetry believed to be a treasury of theurgical power. Power to heal. Power to bring about intervention, if only in our own awareness. If every one of us is like a lonely world unto ourselves, then perhaps some shared songs can unite us, and reconnect us to the world we share together: healing it, liberating it, redeeming it with renewed compassion. This is the hope and promise of a devotional practice of reciting lyrics to songs with long lost and ever rediscovered melodies. Melodies which we can only discover through our own private readings of these ancient songs.
According to Pesaḥim 117a there are ten kinds of songs in the Tehillim: Ashrei, Beracha, Maskil, Nitzuach, Shir, Niggun, Mizmor, Tefilla, Hoda’ah, and Halleluyah. In the early 19th century, Rebbe Nacḥman of Breslov, a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, taught that the recitation of ten psalms, each representing one of these categories, could act as a Tikkun (remedy). Their recitation would help in a process of t’shuva leading to an awareness of the divine presence that permeates and enlivens this world but is alas, hidden though an accretion of transgressive thoughts and actions. On April 1810, Rebbe Naḥman revealed the specific ten psalms of this Tikkun to two of his closest disciples, Rabbi Aharon of Breslov and Rabbi Naftali of Nemirov, by making them witnesses to the following vow:
Bear witness to my words: When my days are over and I leave this world, I will still intercede for anyone who comes to my grave, says these ten Psalms, and gives a penny to charity. No matter how great the sins, I will do everything in my power, spanning the length and breadth of the creation to cleanse and protect them.There is a specific remedy for each transgression, but this is the general remedy (tikkun haklali). Go out and spread the teaching of the ten Psalms to all.
I am very positive in everything I say. But I am most positive in regard to the great benefit of these ten Psalms. These are the ten Psalms:
16 32, 41 42, 59, 77 90, 105, 137, 150
Enjoy the beautiful melody of Tikkun Haklali below beloved, if you wish to watch it on full screen click on the youtube link and enlarge for full effect. May we all be blessed to heal as well as to be healed~Elisheva
http://youtu.be/c9vGfZrSk_0
Thursday, October 24, 2013
A Life of Faith
Abraham and Sarah showed us how to live a life of faith, and the life of
faith is a life of testing. At every juncture we are tested. Passing
each test requires stubborn optimism, resolute confidence in G*d and
steadfast obedience. Life's problems are opportunities to prove our
faith and to improve our faithfulness. We fail life's tests when we give
in to despair, lose confidence in G*d or turn away from obedience.
Every difficulty and trial is a test of faith. Will we assess the
problem through the eyes of faith or not? Will we respond in faith or
faithlessness?"
Many sages have asked the obvious question of why this portion is called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah when it speaks of her death. It is because she left us with a spiritual legacy death can not destroy. She seized every moment and infused it with her love of HaShem. It is her ongoing influence that still teaches us today. In a teaching by Eli Touger on this portion he says that the good deeds a person does in life precipitate others, that the goodness that one infuses into ones environment creates an ongoing dynamic toward good. And this dynamic continues to bear fruit even after ones passing, helping to increase the good in the world bringing us closer to the Era of Redemption. May we all aspire to inspire beloved and may our lives reflect our love of G*d as we seek to inspire our sphere of influence.
In a teaching given over in Rebbe Nachman's Torah, Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion it says of the verse One hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of Sarah's life, that the word shanah (year) appears four times. There are four levels of humility, to be more humble than those greater than you, to be more humble than your equals, to be more humble than those lesser than you, and if you are the most humble person to become even more humble. The essence of life, especially in the World to Come is one's humility. The life of Sarah reflects the fourth level of humility, Whether she was one hundred, twenty or seven she kept humbling herself more and more. And "all her day's were good" for in this way, she attained true humility, which is the essence of life.
Time in this life is not only granted to us to achieve a certain amount of good deeds, time itself is sanctified by our actions. It is said that a perfect life does not end in death, that it sanctifies all that comes after it. The end of our parsha finds Isaac praying in the field towards evening. He lifted his eyes and saw-behold-camels were coming. Rebbe Nachman said it is propitious to pray in fields surrounded by nature. Then all of the grasses and other forces of nature, which continuously sing G*d's praises lend their strength to one's prayers. Beloved it is with a grateful heart that I have the chance to reflect on the life of Sarah and let her radiance inspire me.
Enjoy the poem and song below
Shabbat Shalom~ Elisheva Amaris Chana Bat Sarah
The Song of The Weeds and Grasses
Behold thee
That every shepherd
Brings out to life
his own special tune.
Behold thee
That every grass and weed
Has a special singing
of its own
And from the singing of the weeds
A tune of a shepherd
is being made.
How beautiful
Beauty and pleasance
while we’re paying attention
to their sound
How good it is
To pray among them
and with joy
to worship the Name
and from the the singing of the weeds
the heart fulfills and belongs.
And as the heart
from the singing is longing
and is yearning to the land of biggest joy
Great light
continues, growing
with radiance of the country for Him
and from the singing of the weeds
A song of the heart is being made~Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Many sages have asked the obvious question of why this portion is called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah when it speaks of her death. It is because she left us with a spiritual legacy death can not destroy. She seized every moment and infused it with her love of HaShem. It is her ongoing influence that still teaches us today. In a teaching by Eli Touger on this portion he says that the good deeds a person does in life precipitate others, that the goodness that one infuses into ones environment creates an ongoing dynamic toward good. And this dynamic continues to bear fruit even after ones passing, helping to increase the good in the world bringing us closer to the Era of Redemption. May we all aspire to inspire beloved and may our lives reflect our love of G*d as we seek to inspire our sphere of influence.
In a teaching given over in Rebbe Nachman's Torah, Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion it says of the verse One hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of Sarah's life, that the word shanah (year) appears four times. There are four levels of humility, to be more humble than those greater than you, to be more humble than your equals, to be more humble than those lesser than you, and if you are the most humble person to become even more humble. The essence of life, especially in the World to Come is one's humility. The life of Sarah reflects the fourth level of humility, Whether she was one hundred, twenty or seven she kept humbling herself more and more. And "all her day's were good" for in this way, she attained true humility, which is the essence of life.
Time in this life is not only granted to us to achieve a certain amount of good deeds, time itself is sanctified by our actions. It is said that a perfect life does not end in death, that it sanctifies all that comes after it. The end of our parsha finds Isaac praying in the field towards evening. He lifted his eyes and saw-behold-camels were coming. Rebbe Nachman said it is propitious to pray in fields surrounded by nature. Then all of the grasses and other forces of nature, which continuously sing G*d's praises lend their strength to one's prayers. Beloved it is with a grateful heart that I have the chance to reflect on the life of Sarah and let her radiance inspire me.
Enjoy the poem and song below
Shabbat Shalom~ Elisheva Amaris Chana Bat Sarah
The Song of The Weeds and Grasses
Behold thee
That every shepherd
Brings out to life
his own special tune.
Behold thee
That every grass and weed
Has a special singing
of its own
And from the singing of the weeds
A tune of a shepherd
is being made.
How beautiful
Beauty and pleasance
while we’re paying attention
to their sound
How good it is
To pray among them
and with joy
to worship the Name
and from the the singing of the weeds
the heart fulfills and belongs.
And as the heart
from the singing is longing
and is yearning to the land of biggest joy
Great light
continues, growing
with radiance of the country for Him
and from the singing of the weeds
A song of the heart is being made~Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Shake Your Lulav~A Jewish Rain Dance
What is a lulav? Enjoy this teaching by David Seidenberg:
Each of the four species of plant represents one of the four types of habitats in Israel.
1) Lulav-Palm branch = desert
2) Hadas-Myrtle = mountains
3) Aravot-Willow = rivers and streams
4) Etrog-Citron = lowlands, agricultural land
Each one needs the most water of all the species that grow in its region. Between them, they make a kind of ecological map of Israel, and they represent last year's rainfall. And we use them to ask for this year's rain. Read more below. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When Israel was encamped, the pillar of cloud was...like a sukkah and made a canopy over the tent (of meeting) from without, and filled the tabernacle mishkan from within...and this was one of the clouds of glory that served Israel forty years in the wilderness: one on their right and one on their left and one before them and one behind them and one above them and the cloud of the Shekhinah in-between them." (ch. 14 of B'raita Dim'lekhet Hamishkan, also quoted centuries later in Yalkut Shimoni, Pekudei)
In Kabbalah, God is called the soveiv kol almin, what surrounds all worlds, and the m'malei kol almin, what fills all worlds. In this ancient midrashic passage, the ultimate principle of God that fills and surrounds all, the Shekhinah or the indwelling presence of God, takes the form of a pillar of cloud that makes itself manifest within and around the mishkan, the dwelling place created for God.
But the midrash also tells us that the Shekhinah dwelt "between" the people of Israel--in other words, that Shekhinah dwells on this earth when the people make a dwelling place for her "between them," that is, in their relationships and connections. We will return to this idea below. First, let's explore how the lulav itself draws God's presence into our lives and relationships.
1) Lulav
Sukkot is about water. Everyday in ancient Israel the priests poured water on the altar and prayers asking for the blessings of water were sung. The four species (arba minim) of the lulav are all about water
too: The lulav itself, the date palm, was the most water-loving plant of the desert; the myrtle (hadas) needs the most water of the mountain plants; the etrog fruit among agricultural trees requires the most rain to grow; and of course the "willow of the streams" (arvei nachal) are synonymous with abundant water, often growing with their roots right in the streams.
Each of these species represents one of the primary habitats of the land of Israel: the desert, the mountain, the lowland (sh'feilah in Hebrew), and the river or riparian habitats. Each of these habitats is of course distinct in how much rainfall and how much groundwater are found there. Together, the four species make a bioregional map of the land of Israel, and they each hold in greatest abundance the rains that fell in the habitat where they grow from the year that has passed. That's why the tips of each species, the pitom of the etrog, the unsplit central frond of the lulav, the end leaves of the myrtle and the willow, cannot be dried out: it would be like praying for good health while eating junk food.
Bringing these four species together, we wave them in all directions around us, up and down, praying that the coming year will again bring enough water for each of these species to grow and thrive, and with them all the species of each habitat. All the other explanations you may have heard for the four lulav species (like, we wave them to show that "God is everywhere," or, they represent "the spine, eyes, lips and heart") are lovely midrashim, but this is the real reason for it all. We are praying, fundamentally, for the climate, for the stability and sufficiency of the rain and sunshine, on which depends every being living upon the land, whether plant or animal (or fungus or bacteria).
How can we make our prayers heard? We can make them heard by hearing them ourselves. When we pray for abundance and sustenance while living in ways that destroy our climate, it is like praying with a dried-out lulav, or worse, praying for health while eating not just junk food, but poisons and toxins. Since we need to pray for abundance and sustenance, let us also pray for the wisdom and ability to act consistently with our prayers, to change how we live so that we might live sustainably on the earth. As the Torah enjoins us: Uvacharta bachayim! Choose life!
2) Hoshanot
What does it mean to be a "nation of priests"? Abraham was told that through his descendants, "all the families of the earth" would be blessed. If you look at the liturgy and at midrashic teachings on Sukkot, you will see that this means praying for all other peoples and nations – according to the midrash correspond, the seventy bull sacrifices brought over the holiday correspond to the seventy nations. But it also includes, as we read in the Hoshanot prayers for each day, the crops, the animals, the trees, the rains, and the sustenance of all the earth. We cry out on each day, pleading for sustaining blessings for all of these: "Please save human and animal! Please, save! Please save flesh and spirit and breathing! Please save likeness and image and weave! Please save the ripe fruit, sweeten and save! Please save the clouds from withholding! Please the animals from miscarrying! Please save the rooting of the breathing trees! Please save, Renew the face of the earth!"
What species and habitats need our special prayers this year? Some
examples: Save the polar bears from drowning; save the fireflies from becoming lost; save the honeybees from colony collapse; save the coast live oaks from decay; save the old-growth redwoods from becoming lumber; save the cloud forests from vanishing; save the seas from dead zones. Not all environmental crises are our fault, but they are all exacerbated by the pressure, stress and loss of habitat created by both climate change and by our use of more and more land for our purposes (which also accelerates climate change). What can each of us do to protect the particular species in our own locale and "bioregion"? How do each of our actions and choices about what to buy and use and how to live affect species in other places? Finding out the answers to these questions is part of what we need to do to make our prayers real. All ecosystems are connected, and we cannot harm one without harming the others, so any prayers we make for individual species or places are also prayers for the whole Earth.
Our prayers help us to focus on this by asking us to be aware of the fragility of life, on the fragility of all that is "suspended on nothingness",t'luyah al b'li mah. Two of the lines from the Hoshanot are especially striking: "Please save the soul from desperation! Please save what is suspended upon nothingness! Hoshana nefesh mibehalah! Hoshana t'luyah al b'li mah!" Behalah/desperation can mean all the forces that turn us away from action, that make us believe that we cannot make a difference. The way to save the soul from "behalah" is to fulfill the mission described in the Hoshanot: to act as priests and pray on behalf of all the other species, to fix what we can. Part of this process includes mourning for what is being lost, and celebrating what remains.
3) The month of Tishrei
We have been praying, fasting, purifying ourselves since the new moon of Rosh Hashanah, for one overwhelming reason: to make ourselves ready and worthy to pray for the well-being and fertility of the earth, the crops, the animals, and all the peoples. Only now, after we have completed that process through Yom Kippur, can we start to say those prayers. That's why the tradition says the gates don't really close until the last day of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah. That's why it's traditional to wear a kittel on that day (kittel is the shroud many men an some women wear on Yom Kippur, as well as on their wedding day and in death), and why the Chazan (cantor) may don a kittel the first time we say the prayers for rain, on the following day of Sh'mini Atseret.
On Yom Kippur, in the Sefardic prayers, there are long confessions that detail every possible sin. One of the sins confessed in this list, among such varied items like "I have misled people in business" and "I ate outside a sukkah on Sukkot" is so so deep: "I have not chosen life / Lo bacharti bachayim." To do t'shuvah, repairing ourselves and returning to God, means to choose life. Sukkot teaches us how.
4) S'khakh
If you know how to build a sukkah, you know that its roof is made of s'khakh, branches and leaves. This is not only the essence of the sukkah, it is also the reason why it's called a "sukkah". S'khakh can be made of anything that grows from the ground. To be s'khakh, however, the material must both be cut off from the ground, and yet not manufactured into something new and finished (e.g., one cannot use a woven grass mat). S'khakh can't be held together by wire, and it should not be tied down in any way. It should ideally rest on plain wood, not metal. All these rules are referred to by the idea that s'khakh cannot be made of anything that is "m'kabeil tuma," that is able to become ritually impure.
An object can become "impure" or tamei only when it is fully part of the human world. So, for example, if one is making a chair out of wood and has attached only three of the four legs, the chair is not finished and it's not able to become impure. The categories of ritual purity are human constructs, as the Talmud explicitly acknowledges. Nothing that is wholly part of Nature can become impure, and nothing that is in process of being made into a human artifact, but that is unfinished, can become impure. (Nevertheless, some materials, like metal, just by being extracted and refined, are considered part of the human world, even before they are made into something specific.)
The essence of what it means for s'khakh to not be "m'kabeil tuma" is that it is in-between Nature and the human world, neither attached to the ground nor manufactured or turned into a human object: it is cut from the ground (or from a tree growing in the ground), but not yet re-formed or shaped into something useful or woven or tied down. The roof made of s'khakh represents many aspects of the "in-between": the interface between heaven and earth, the space between atmosphere and ground, the meeting place between us and God, but it also (and most
importantly) represents the trnsitional space between Nature and our human-made world.
S'khakh is the "in-between," the filter and screen through which we experience the greater reality of divinity and nature. It also represents the atmosphere and climate that gives and tends and protects us, and it represents the fragility of that protection.
Traditionally, s'khakh should cover more than half the space over the Sukkah by creating more shade than light, but it should have openings throughout, smaller than a handbreadth, but big enough to see some stars. Though what is unseen appears to be less than what is seen, what is unseen, invisible, hidden from the eye, is actually greater than what is seen. The unseen permeates what we see, like the stars that shine through the sky and the s'khakh. Shefa, the blessing of overflowing abundance, pours in, whether we are aware of it or not. The sukkah gives us the privilege and opportunity to sense this happening.
An essential aspect of Sukot is to teach us to live in the "in-between," to find shelter and comfort in vulnerability and in making ourselves open to the elements, and to bear witness to the Shekhinah-radiance that underlies all that we can experience. Being aware of the fragile liminality of our separation from God and from Nature, right over our heads, is an entry to thanksgiving, acceptance, and joy.
5) Waving the lulav
We read in the midrash above: "When Israel was encamped, the pillar of cloud was...like a sukkah and made a canopy over the tent from without, and filled the mishkan from within...and this was one of the clouds of glory that served Israel forty years in the wilderness: one on their right and one on their left and one before them and one behind them and one above them and the cloud of the Shekhinah between them." We are surrounded by the divine presence, what is called "glory" or kavod in the Bible, or Shekhinah in rabbinic and post-rabbinic Judaism. If the lulav is meant to draw down shefa and blessing to the Earth and all creatures, then we wave it in all directions both because we want to draw blessing from all quarters of creation, and because we need to simultaneously bring blessing to all quarters and corners of creation. Right and left, before and behind, up and down. But this last direction down is to the Earth, to what exists...between us. Because the last direction, toward the Earth, is really the direction of all that binds us together, all that we are made of, the direction of adamah, our substance, and Shekhinah or Malkhut, according to Kabbalah. The Earth is one manifestation of Shekhinah, which truly rests in the "in-between," in the relations between all creatures, in the "weave" of creation, and in the weave of human caring.
Sukkot reminds us that our relationships are not just with other humans, but with the world that is one step beyond the human, the more-than-human world that gives us all that we need. All creatures are our relations. Both the s'khakh and the lulav draw us by steps toward the greater physical and spiritual reality which is the bed and bedrock of our lives.
When we pray for all creatures, as our tradition bids us do on Sukkot, we act this out ritually by waving the lulav. We wave or shake the lulav three times in each direction, returning the lulav after each wave to our hearts. A kavanah for each set of three waves could be to wave the first time to receive blessing from the direction (and all that comes from there), the second time to send blessing to that direction (and all that dwell there), and the third time to express gratitude or to unite our hearts in compassion with the One who cares for all of them. (Note that there are different orders for waving the lulav, and some end with shaking the lulav behind us, rather than
down.)
It's not enough to hope for blessing: we call for blessing by using our whole bodies, using what we gather from the earth, and gesturing and dancing towards all the directions. We need to make this physical gesture into a real prayer by purposefully acting change our impact on the planet, to change ourselves, instead of changing the climate. What we give to the Earth must also become a blessing. A blessing for all the families of the earth, mishp'chot ha'adamah, all the tribes of species and genus, of region and ecosystem, all our relations of earth and sea and sky. This is how we can choose to act, how we can measure our actions, in an age of global climate change and uncertainty. This is how we should measure government policies, community decisions, and justice itself. This is how we can ask God to "renew the face of the ground" chidush p'nei ha'adamah, and be answered.
The final dimension of action is joy: V'hayita ach sameach! And you will rejoice! The gates are still open, and the way through them is joy and service: both are the characteristics of acting as priests to bring down blessing for all our relations. May we all be blessed to rejoice, to receive the Shekhinah dwelling between us, in all our relationships, with all the creatures of heaven and Earth.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Choose Life
The first of this weeks parashiot, Netzavim is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh HaShanah, it begins with the words, "Today you are all standing before the Face of HaShem your G*D". Netzavim is usually translated
as standing, but more literally means standers- those who stand. This
type of standing does not describe "standing around" it implies
purposeful standing, usually in response to a summons, invitation or
command. Just who are these Netzavim, these "standing ones"? Look
closely beloved, look into your own soul. While the covenant about
which we are reading was made by the Redeemed of HaShem who physically
stood before Moshe on that day, it is applied to all future generations
of the sons of Abraham. In addition it also is applied to a group
outside of the physical lineage, it is made available to the foreigners
who lived in the midst of the Redeemed community. It is also made
available to those not yet born, even though they were not there
physically, that someday in the future they too would hear G*D's words
and be a part of the covenant. In Deuteronomy
29:14-15 we read "neither with you only do I make this covenant and
this oath, but with him who stands here with us this day before HaShem
our G*D, and also with him who is not here with us on this day".
The words of Moshe speak prophetic words of warning. He is acting as our watchman sounding the shofar. He is warning us of the dangers of a pagan lifestyle, an approach to life without HaShem. The lifestyle described in Torah is not about manipulating G*D to get Him to do what we want, but rather surrendering every aspect of our life so that we can live as He wants. It's about relationship beloved. "The secret things belong to HaShem our G*D, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Torah". Deuteronomy 29:29. According to Rabbi Nachman in Likutey Moharan 1,22 9-10, "A person must try to reveal that which is at the present hidden and belongs only to G*D, this corresponds to the recognition that there are ways of serving G*D that are not explained in the Torah but are attained by searching for G*D in everything."
Sleepers, awake! The Days of Awe are coming! It's traditional to hear the sound of the shofar (ram's horn) every day of the month of Elul, as a kind of spiritual alarm clock, enjoy the blowing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem http://youtu.be/mlLFDLEuX9A
It's also traditional to read psalm 27 twice each day during the month of Elul.
Below you will find a beautiful translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Psalm 27
Yah! You are my light.
You are my savior.
Whom need I dread?
Yah, with you as my strong protector who can make me panic?
When hateful bullies gang up on me, wanting to harass me,
to oppress and terrorize me
They are the ones who stumble and fall.
Even if a gang surrounds me my heart is not weakened.
If a battle is joined around me my trust in You is firm.
Only one thing do I ask of You, Yah:
Just this alone do I seek, I want to be at home with you, Yah,
All the days of my life.
I want to delight in seeing You.
Seeing You when I come to visit You in Your temple.
You hide me in your sukkah on a foul day.
You conceal me unseen in Your tent.
You also raise me beyond anyone's reach
And now, as You have held my head high despite the presence of my powerful foes
I prepare to celebrate and thrill, singing and making music to You, Yah!
Listen, Yah, to the sound of my cry
And, being kind, answer me!
My heart has said, I turn to seek you.
Your presence is what I beg for
Don't hide Your face from me.
Don't just put me down, You who have been my helper.
Don't abandon me, don't forsake me, G*d my support.
Though my father and my mother have left me
You, Yah, will hold me securely.
Please teach me Your way.
Teach me Your way and guide me on the straight path.
Discourage those who defame me
Because false witnesses stood up against me belching out violence.
Don't let me become the victim of my foes.
I wouldn't have survived
If I hadn't hoped that I would see, yet,
Your goodness, G*d, fully alive on earth.
So I tell you, my friends: you too hope to Yah! Be sturdy!
And make strong your heart. And most of all, keep hoping to Yah.
Shabbat Shalom
Elisheva Amaris
The words of Moshe speak prophetic words of warning. He is acting as our watchman sounding the shofar. He is warning us of the dangers of a pagan lifestyle, an approach to life without HaShem. The lifestyle described in Torah is not about manipulating G*D to get Him to do what we want, but rather surrendering every aspect of our life so that we can live as He wants. It's about relationship beloved. "The secret things belong to HaShem our G*D, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Torah". Deuteronomy 29:29. According to Rabbi Nachman in Likutey Moharan 1,22 9-10, "A person must try to reveal that which is at the present hidden and belongs only to G*D, this corresponds to the recognition that there are ways of serving G*D that are not explained in the Torah but are attained by searching for G*D in everything."
Sleepers, awake! The Days of Awe are coming! It's traditional to hear the sound of the shofar (ram's horn) every day of the month of Elul, as a kind of spiritual alarm clock, enjoy the blowing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem http://youtu.be/mlLFDLEuX9A
It's also traditional to read psalm 27 twice each day during the month of Elul.
Below you will find a beautiful translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Psalm 27
Yah! You are my light.
You are my savior.
Whom need I dread?
Yah, with you as my strong protector who can make me panic?
When hateful bullies gang up on me, wanting to harass me,
to oppress and terrorize me
They are the ones who stumble and fall.
Even if a gang surrounds me my heart is not weakened.
If a battle is joined around me my trust in You is firm.
Only one thing do I ask of You, Yah:
Just this alone do I seek, I want to be at home with you, Yah,
All the days of my life.
I want to delight in seeing You.
Seeing You when I come to visit You in Your temple.
You hide me in your sukkah on a foul day.
You conceal me unseen in Your tent.
You also raise me beyond anyone's reach
And now, as You have held my head high despite the presence of my powerful foes
I prepare to celebrate and thrill, singing and making music to You, Yah!
Listen, Yah, to the sound of my cry
And, being kind, answer me!
My heart has said, I turn to seek you.
Your presence is what I beg for
Don't hide Your face from me.
Don't just put me down, You who have been my helper.
Don't abandon me, don't forsake me, G*d my support.
Though my father and my mother have left me
You, Yah, will hold me securely.
Please teach me Your way.
Teach me Your way and guide me on the straight path.
Discourage those who defame me
Because false witnesses stood up against me belching out violence.
Don't let me become the victim of my foes.
I wouldn't have survived
If I hadn't hoped that I would see, yet,
Your goodness, G*d, fully alive on earth.
So I tell you, my friends: you too hope to Yah! Be sturdy!
And make strong your heart. And most of all, keep hoping to Yah.
Shabbat Shalom
Elisheva Amaris
Friday, August 23, 2013
Broken...Yet Holy
Rabbi Jacobson says, "We all make mistakes, we all break things in
our life, but life also breaks us". We've all been broken in one way or
another. Different people react in different ways to this hurt. Some
stay broken and some grow. The miracle is that the more broken you are
the more whole you have a chance to become. The Rabbi's teach that there
is nothing as complete as a broken heart. Why is a broken wall the
holiest place on earth for the Jew? Why do we stand and pray at a broken
wall when there are so many beautiful spots to chose from? Because
beloved it is a picture for us of a bigger reality. The reality that the
world is a broken place and it's full of broken people whose job is to
mend what is broken. In this sixth week the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 60
tells of G*d's even greater consolation and of the vision of the
world's Redemption.
Enjoy the teaching below
Shabbat Shalom~Shana Tova~Elisheva
Ki Tavo: On Being an Am Segula
~by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin HaKohen Melman
What does it mean to be called the Chosen Nation? Actually, the term used in Ki Tavo is Am Segula, often translated as "treasured nation." But whether understood as chosen or as treasured, it seems to be frequently misunderstood.
It does not imply supremacy or arrogance. Rather, it embraces the idea of service. As Israel is a mamlechet kohanim, a nation of priests, Israel is a kohein, or holy servant, to the other nations on Earth.Why is the Dead Sea dead? Because it only receives. It never gives out life sustaining waters. Thus the salts accumulate to toxic levels. Sea salt gives life, but only in very small quantities.
The Golan, by contrast, is bursting with life and vibrancy year round. Its fresh, living waters sustain and replenish Yam Kineret, the Sea of Galilee, whose waters sustain all Israel. And the Torah emanating from Yerushalayim and Tzfat, and indeed from all the heights of Torah, water and give spiritual nourishment to all Israel and to the world at large.
Israel now has the opportunity, our parsha is telling us, of being a catalyst for blessing for all the nations of the world. Indeed, this is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic blessing that "all the nations will be blessed through you." Israel, in a sense, now becomes the yeast for the whole world. As yeast is the catalyst in baking, so too is Israel that transforming agent of change which has the awesome capability of uplifting all of humanity. Just as yeast is among the least of the ingredients, so too is Israel the least populous of the nations. Just as yeast is less than tasty when eaten as a meal in itself, so too does Israel shine less when consumed solely in a self-absorbed disinterest with the fate of humanity.
Israel is the yeast/catalyst in the rising pungent ferment that is humanity. The more we consciously incorporate Judaism into our lives, the sooner we help elevate all humanity, including ourselves, to achieve the end stage of glorious redemption and peace, and thereby fulfill our true destiny as an "am segula," as a Catalyst Nation.
When we want something good for someone we often say, "do this as a segula." Or sometimes it is said, "say this prayer at the kotel for forty days to find your soul mate as a segula," or "recite this psalm on behalf of sick person as a segula," or "wear this amulet as a segula." So clearly, at least in the folk mind, a segula has the sense of being a catalyst, of bringing about positive change.
As we immerse in our own Teshuvah, to bring about positive change, let us remember that we are not perfect creatures either. We all make mistakes, but the point is to learn from them, to become better people because of the mistakes we have made, that's the way we grow!
Enjoy the teaching below
Shabbat Shalom~Shana Tova~Elisheva
Ki Tavo: On Being an Am Segula
~by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin HaKohen Melman
What does it mean to be called the Chosen Nation? Actually, the term used in Ki Tavo is Am Segula, often translated as "treasured nation." But whether understood as chosen or as treasured, it seems to be frequently misunderstood.
It does not imply supremacy or arrogance. Rather, it embraces the idea of service. As Israel is a mamlechet kohanim, a nation of priests, Israel is a kohein, or holy servant, to the other nations on Earth.Why is the Dead Sea dead? Because it only receives. It never gives out life sustaining waters. Thus the salts accumulate to toxic levels. Sea salt gives life, but only in very small quantities.
The Golan, by contrast, is bursting with life and vibrancy year round. Its fresh, living waters sustain and replenish Yam Kineret, the Sea of Galilee, whose waters sustain all Israel. And the Torah emanating from Yerushalayim and Tzfat, and indeed from all the heights of Torah, water and give spiritual nourishment to all Israel and to the world at large.
Israel now has the opportunity, our parsha is telling us, of being a catalyst for blessing for all the nations of the world. Indeed, this is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic blessing that "all the nations will be blessed through you." Israel, in a sense, now becomes the yeast for the whole world. As yeast is the catalyst in baking, so too is Israel that transforming agent of change which has the awesome capability of uplifting all of humanity. Just as yeast is among the least of the ingredients, so too is Israel the least populous of the nations. Just as yeast is less than tasty when eaten as a meal in itself, so too does Israel shine less when consumed solely in a self-absorbed disinterest with the fate of humanity.
Israel is the yeast/catalyst in the rising pungent ferment that is humanity. The more we consciously incorporate Judaism into our lives, the sooner we help elevate all humanity, including ourselves, to achieve the end stage of glorious redemption and peace, and thereby fulfill our true destiny as an "am segula," as a Catalyst Nation.
When we want something good for someone we often say, "do this as a segula." Or sometimes it is said, "say this prayer at the kotel for forty days to find your soul mate as a segula," or "recite this psalm on behalf of sick person as a segula," or "wear this amulet as a segula." So clearly, at least in the folk mind, a segula has the sense of being a catalyst, of bringing about positive change.
As we immerse in our own Teshuvah, to bring about positive change, let us remember that we are not perfect creatures either. We all make mistakes, but the point is to learn from them, to become better people because of the mistakes we have made, that's the way we grow!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Elul~The Place To Be
"During the month of Elul the King is in the field and everyone who
desires is permitted to meet Him, and He receives them all with a
cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to all." (Rabbi Schneur
Zalman).
During the month of Elul HaShem comes to meet us, He says return to who you truly are, to the pure soul that I created you to be. For most of us that is the hardest part, stripping away all the layers that we have surrounded ourselves with. These layers can take many forms but the end result is the same, they all take us farther and farther away from G*D. Repentance can only come from the realization that the spiritual separation one feels when removed from G*D's presence is a reality to painful to bear.
There is a fascinating insight from Rabbi David Aaron, which is based on the teaching of Sifri. It is the idea that HaShem has faith in us. In the Modeh Ani prayer that we say immediately upon awakening in the morning we say a prayer of thanksgiving for the return of our neshamah-our soul.
"I am grateful before You, O Living and Eternal Sovereign, for You have returned my soul within me with compassion-great is Your faith"
In essence we are thanking our Creator for having faith in us! We must realize that if HaShem has returned our neshamah to our body this morning He is telling us that our sacred mission on this earth is not yet finished, and that He has faith in our ability to fulfill this mission. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our challenges, He knows our weaknesses, yet He has faith in our ability to overcome these challanges. We must in turn emulate Him and have faith in ourselves
This teaching took me back to a time when during a meditation I had a revelation that I was the daughter of The King. Every time I go back to that place I get the same feeling of awe and humility. To what do I owe this great honor, and how can I possibly live up to the obligations that this status brings? It is only through the love and mercy of HaShem beloved, it is only His belief in me that I can believe in myself.
The Midrash Shocher Tov explains the verse in Tehilim, "Lamnatzeach al shoshanim livnei Korach,"The sons of Korach said,"We are the roses" with a parable. A king once came to visit his people. They desired to give him a crown of gold adorned with stones. The king's entourage said to the townspeople, "The king does not want a golden crown. Are there roses?" The townspeople happily gave him roses. Similarly, HaShem says He does not want gifts of gold or silver. All He desires are roses.
The Sifsei Tzadik writes that roses represent softness. Gold and silver are rough and hard. HaShem does not want a hard heart. He desires a crown of roses signifying a heart filled with love, gentleness, and beauty. HaShem says, when you have this quality of the rose, then I can be "The shepherd among the roses," I can lead you to repentance. Beloved all we need to do is strip everything away and simply come, come before the King with a broken and open heart, it is HaShem who does the work all we need to do is Shema and follow.
One of the many ways that HaShem leads us is through His creation. Through the wonders of His creation He shows us everyday how much we are loved, in the song of a bird, the sweet smell of a rose, in the new moon as it hangs close enough to touch, large and low on the horizon as if to say yes you too can start again. In our service to HaShem we must never lose that freshness, that newness, that sense of awe and wonder. If one can just open one's heart and perceive it the whole universe and all that is in it declare His majesty.
During the month of Elul HaShem comes to meet us, He says return to who you truly are, to the pure soul that I created you to be. For most of us that is the hardest part, stripping away all the layers that we have surrounded ourselves with. These layers can take many forms but the end result is the same, they all take us farther and farther away from G*D. Repentance can only come from the realization that the spiritual separation one feels when removed from G*D's presence is a reality to painful to bear.
There is a fascinating insight from Rabbi David Aaron, which is based on the teaching of Sifri. It is the idea that HaShem has faith in us. In the Modeh Ani prayer that we say immediately upon awakening in the morning we say a prayer of thanksgiving for the return of our neshamah-our soul.
"I am grateful before You, O Living and Eternal Sovereign, for You have returned my soul within me with compassion-great is Your faith"
In essence we are thanking our Creator for having faith in us! We must realize that if HaShem has returned our neshamah to our body this morning He is telling us that our sacred mission on this earth is not yet finished, and that He has faith in our ability to fulfill this mission. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our challenges, He knows our weaknesses, yet He has faith in our ability to overcome these challanges. We must in turn emulate Him and have faith in ourselves
This teaching took me back to a time when during a meditation I had a revelation that I was the daughter of The King. Every time I go back to that place I get the same feeling of awe and humility. To what do I owe this great honor, and how can I possibly live up to the obligations that this status brings? It is only through the love and mercy of HaShem beloved, it is only His belief in me that I can believe in myself.
The Midrash Shocher Tov explains the verse in Tehilim, "Lamnatzeach al shoshanim livnei Korach,"The sons of Korach said,"We are the roses" with a parable. A king once came to visit his people. They desired to give him a crown of gold adorned with stones. The king's entourage said to the townspeople, "The king does not want a golden crown. Are there roses?" The townspeople happily gave him roses. Similarly, HaShem says He does not want gifts of gold or silver. All He desires are roses.
The Sifsei Tzadik writes that roses represent softness. Gold and silver are rough and hard. HaShem does not want a hard heart. He desires a crown of roses signifying a heart filled with love, gentleness, and beauty. HaShem says, when you have this quality of the rose, then I can be "The shepherd among the roses," I can lead you to repentance. Beloved all we need to do is strip everything away and simply come, come before the King with a broken and open heart, it is HaShem who does the work all we need to do is Shema and follow.
One of the many ways that HaShem leads us is through His creation. Through the wonders of His creation He shows us everyday how much we are loved, in the song of a bird, the sweet smell of a rose, in the new moon as it hangs close enough to touch, large and low on the horizon as if to say yes you too can start again. In our service to HaShem we must never lose that freshness, that newness, that sense of awe and wonder. If one can just open one's heart and perceive it the whole universe and all that is in it declare His majesty.
HaShem
also leads us through His Torah, it reveals His very character. It is a
love letter, it is our guidebook to life from Him to us. Rabbi Schneur
Zalman of Liadi the first Lubovitcher Rebbe, also known as the Alter
Rebbe said, "Elul's unique power is that the Thirteen Attributes
of Divine Compassion radiate through it, even when we are immersed in
the mundane activities of the week". May we all take advantage of the
fact that the King is in the field. Shed the chains that bind and run
to Him, He is waiting beloved.........
~Elisheva Amaris
~Elisheva Amaris
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